Home health services may be an ideal solution if a loved one is having difficulty maintaining their home, eating alone or getting out of bed on their own. Home healthcare also can help manage chronic illnesses like heart failure, COVID-19 or HIV/AIDS effectively.
Manage a chronic illness requires constant monitoring, health care interventions and the implementation of treatment plans. Home health care assistance can enable patients to remain at home longer while improving outcomes from treatments.
Home health care services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurance plans, providing access to skilled home health services such as nursing or physical, speech or occupational therapy at intermittent intervals. Your doctor must certify your need for home health services on an ongoing basis by reviewing and signing off on your plan of care at regular intervals. To qualify, two requirements must be fulfilled: 1) If intermittent skilled home health care such as nursing is needed (not continuous); and 2) Your plan of care needs regular review from him/her at regular intervals – see Step 2) If this applies, then two criteria must be fulfilled – then home health services will be covered – 2 criteria must be fulfilled to qualify: 1) intermittent skilled home health services such as nursing; 2) Your physician must certify this needs home health services by reviewing and signing off on regular intervals on it’s plan of care plan at regular intervals – for eligibility if eligible,
An onsite doctor visit will allow them to evaluate if you qualify for home health care and assess your needs and request the necessary services – such as home health aide services if applicable.
Once they have conducted the initial assessment, a home health aide will work with you to develop a care plan. They’ll assist with tasks you cannot perform on your own such as bathing and dressing assistance, meal preparation assistance, housecleaning assistance and medication reminders; plus they will monitor your health and report back to your physician; home health aides must have received at least 75 hours of training before providing their services.
Your care team may include more than home health aides; social workers or dietitians could be part of it too, teaching you skills to cope with your condition while providing access to community resources. Medicare covers certain medical supplies such as wound dressings and catheters. And if you require durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs or walkers, Medicare will cover up to 20% of its approved amount plus any applicable Part B deductible fees.
Home health care can be less expensive and more convenient than hospital or skilled nursing facility care – yet just as effective. Studies have demonstrated that patients receiving nurse visits at home tend to experience fewer hospital readmissions and lower mortality rates compared to patients who don’t.
Medicare is providing home health care assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic by streamlining the process for getting services underway quickly. A new demonstration program enables home health agencies or patients to submit a pre-claim review prior to commencing home health services; this will show Medicare you are likely eligible for coverage without delays in coverage approvals.
If you have Medicare Advantage, check with your plan to determine how they’ll provide home health benefits during a pandemic. Be sure to inform any home health agencies of any additional coverage such as veterans benefits, long-term care insurance or private policies which could cover costs such as long-term care insurance policies or private policies.